Sun Sentinel: Florida consumer confidence keeps rising
Consumer confidence is continuing to rise in Florida.
The monthly University of Florida consumer survey released Tuesday shows consumer confidence rose for the second straight month. The survey measured confidence in July at 97.7, which is 1.5 points higher than it was previously. The lowest index possible is a 2, and the highest is 150.
This is only the second time since March 2002 that consumer confidence has been this high in Florida.
Hector Sandoval of the Economic Analysis Program at UF’s Bureau of Economic and Business Research said that women, older residents and those that earn less than $50,000 a year have very positive views about their personal financial situation.
The 2018 session is nigh, the News Service of Florida reminds us.
On Tuesday, senators filed at least 18 claims bills for the January session. One of the biggest ones is SB 46, filed by Sen. Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton, that seeks to collect $17.8 million from the city of Tampa.
In involves the largest personal injury verdict against Tampa ever: Ramiro Companioni Jr. won $18 million. A jury awarded him that in 2004 for injuries he suffered in 1996 when he nearly died after a city water department truck collided into the motorcycle he was driving. He needed 300 units of blood, spent a month in an induced coma, and had a catheter for two years. He recovered, but has to wear a colostomy bag for the rest of his life.
Despite the jury verdict, Companioni has seen very little of the money. In this 2016 story by Times Staff Writer Richard Danielson, Companioni had seen only $100,000 because of state limits on negligence claims against cities. Attorneys representing the city have aggressively gone after Companioni’s character.
Florida Today: Brevard School Board’s tentative budget includes teacher raises
The Brevard County School Board might just be able to pay for teacher raises and a handful of other projects if the board agrees to make some last-minute tweaks to the district budget.
At Thursday’s budget hearing, where board members approved a $963 million tentative budget, chief financial officer Pennie Zuercher laid out which projects the district can afford. At the top of the list are 16 early literacy coaches, a school choice regional busing system, salary increases for teachers, reopening South Lake Elementary in Titusville and a suicide prevention program.
The district has already freed up $5.5 million by tightening department belts and scrubbing district budgets, a process Zuercher started in the midst of this year’s state Legislative Session in case funding dwindled.
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